Consider this. Relatives of a patient attack doctors in some hospital (MDM Medical College). Doctors strike back and police is called to intervene .Police resorts to lathi charge and in turn sixty doctors/students get injured. After effect?. Doctors of Rajasthan go on strike paralyzing medical services. Jodhpur is worst hit in the strike and whopping 3500 residential doctors are said to be on strike.
Doctors are demanding that police personnels involved in lathi charge must be suspended and they want meeting with rajasthan home minister for the issue. The strike has not been over three days and the tussle between police and doctors is coming at high price.
Since the strike according to media reports 31 people have died since no doctor was available to serve them. Thirty One humans lives have been lost. Lives which were invaluable , lives which had zeal to live and lives which were cut short because doctors forgot their oath and want to get their ego satisfied first. Their honor is more than cost of human lives and they are holding state government at ransom .’Meet our demand or else see people getting killed’. We have heard such direct/indirect threats . We have heard such threats by kidnappers or naxals or taliban or laskhar ae toybas or extremists but seeing people die because doctors wont serve them is not what we expect from someone who is well educated doctor.
Don’t doctors have right to protest against something which they think is injustice?. Don’t doctors have right to protest for defending their self respect and honor?. Obviously they do have right to protest. Doctors have every right to launch a complain against injustice and also sit for dharna if need arises but are doctors justified in putting at stake lives of innocent people?. What is their fault? What have they done wrong?. Why should a father loose his son or son loose his father,
wife loose her husband or husband loose his wife and children loose their parents or brother loose their sister because police lathi charged on doctors over some incident which took place in hospital?
I am all for right to protest but doctors who protest at cost of lives of people need to be condemned. They can find better way of protesting than getting innocents killed. While doctors are demanding that police personnel be suspended because 60 doctors and students got injured , what should an ordinary citizen of India demand from government as thirty one people have got killed?. Shouldn’t these doctors booked for criminal offense and charge of murder?. They didnt kill these people but surely did facilitate in patients getting killed.
As doctor’s strike saga is unfolding with government requesting “with folded hands” and threatening doctors at same time , I am worried that more people would die till the strike gets over.
As concerned citizen of India , I appeal to parliament of India to have strict laws against strikes as far as something that deals with human lives in concerned.As this hub is being written we already have bharat bandh called by trade unions. We have seen so many bandh called by one or other body that it won’t be wrong to say that India is nation of festivals and bandhs. Still India is second fastest moving economy in the world and that is itself an big achievement because strikes,bandhs and holidays have been deeply rooted in our workforce.
Coming back to doctor’s strikes,I appeal to parliament of India that any strike which can be threat to human life directly or indirectly must be barred . To safe guards interest of doctors/nurses and other such services parliament can provide alternate ways with strict deadline orientation. For e.g. grievance section where such service people can file a complain and it has to be dealt within seven days.
Yes we do have essential service act but it needs to be invoked.Instead of that we should pass a law stating strikes which deals with humans life would be illegal and all grudges,grievances would be dealt using alternate ways.
I support doctor’s quest for justice but at same time I condemn doctor’s negligence towards their duty.I wish families who lost their kin,all the strength they need to recover from this worst phase of life.